1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector with a separate terminal retainer, which is used for connecting wire harnesses or the like.
2. Background
Referring to FIG. 11, a metal terminal c, to which an electric wire w is connected, is inserted into a terminal accommodating chamber a.sub.1 of a connector a and retained therein by a flexible retaining arm d. The flexible retaining arm d has a step d.sub.1 at its distal end which is engaged with a rear end of a female electric contact portion c.sub.1 of the metal terminal c.
A terminal retainer b also shown in FIG. 11 is located at a provisional retaining position where engagement ends e.sub.1 of a pair of flexible retaining pieces are displaced from the female electric contact portion c.sub.1. The terminal retainer b advances from the provisional retaining position to a complete retaining position where the engagement ends e.sub.1 of the flexible retaining pieces abut against the rear end of the female electric contact portion c.sub.1 at both sides of the flexible retaining arm d.
FIG. 13 shows a first terminal removing jig t.sub.1. The jig t.sub.1 has a grip portion f and a two-pronged drive portion f.sub.1 on an end of the grip portion f. FIG. 14 shows a second terminal removing jig t.sub.2 having a tapered drive portion g.sub.1 on an end of a grip portion g.
The operation for removing the metal terminal c from the connector a using these first and second jigs t.sub.1 and t.sub.2 will be described hereunder. The terminal retainer b is first moved backwardly from the complete retaining position to the provisional retaining position as shown in FIG. 11. Thereafter, the first terminal removing jig t.sub.1 is inserted through an insertion portion h of the terminal retainer b into the terminal accommodating chamber a.sub.1 so that the two-pronged drive portion f.sub.1 is brought into contact with the engagement ends e.sub.1 of the pair of the flexible retaining pieces e while the wire w and the metal terminal c is located in an interior f.sub.2 (i.e., between the two prongs) of the two-pronged drive portion f.sub.1, as shown in an upper half of FIG. 12. Thereafter, as shown in a lower half of FIG. 12, the grip portion f is pivotably moved downwardly using the electric wire w as a fulcrum so that the engagement ends e.sub.1 are moved upwardly by the two-pronged drive portion f.sub.1. Thereafter, the second terminal removing jig t.sub.2 is inserted from the front of the connector housing a into the terminal accommodating chamber a.sub.1 so that the engagement step d.sub.1 of the flexible retaining arm d is moved upwardly and disengaged from the metal terminal c. In a state where the engagement step d.sub.1 is maintained in the disengaged position, the metal terminal c is removed from the connector a together with the first terminal removing jig t.sub.1.
In the connector described above, the metal terminal c is double-retained by the flexible retaining arm d of the connector housing a and the flexible retaining piece e of the terminal retainer b to prevent backward withdrawal thereof relative to the connector housing a. However, in order to remove the metal terminal c from the connector housing a, two jigs must be used to independently disengage the flexible retaining arm d and the flexible retaining piece e from the metal terminal c, resulting in a troublesome operation.